The Continuing Adventures of the Fluff Club, Episode 69 *

 

“In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous” – Aristotle.

 

 Pittleworth Trout Lake? No, me neither! Only appeared on our radar earlier this year, thence onto our fixtures list, seemingly it was a well-kept secret beforehand. The Inspector was responsible for finding this gem and bringing it to the Fluff Club’s attention, he joined us for a look around whilst walking his young dog, “Buddy”, a canine in a big hurry, bursting with energy and enthusiasm to explore the whole world.

 Once a John Lewis Partnership water, and apparently quite neglected before being taken on by the current owners a few years ago, we suspect it was syndicated for a time but is now available for pre-booked whole days for a minimum of six rods, 24 fish to take, and strictly no C&R. Fed by the River Test, this mature, meandering 3.5 acre pond is absolutely stunning!

 The Fluff Boys RDV’d at the fishing hut, where the catch return book evidenced good fishing on the recent let days, including a six-pounder! Foggy, Moneypenny, the Professor, Admiral, Lumberjack and Whytee were the select six; Foggy was straight out of the traps, fishing before anyone else, down the RHB from the hut, covering the bay leading to the outflow. The rest spread out once they were geared up. As Whytee passed, Foggy was already playing a fish which had whomped his BFD, “I was after his bigger mate, didn’t see this one coming” he moaned. Whytee walked the perimeter anti-clockwise, trying the odd spot with one or two throws of a Wossname, but no.

 At the northern end are two inflows supplying bright, bubbling Test water. It struck me that this must be quite close to the fabled Oakley Beat of the Test, where Halford’s fishing hut still presides. No wonder the track is boldly posted PRIVATE. A couple of years ago, a day for two rods on that beat in the Mayfly season fetched over £900 in the WTT auction! Where the pond widened there were some fish topping, and Whytee soon decided to return to the car for a box of Daddies, it being that time of year. En passant the scuttlebutt revealed Foggy had three, the Professor two, as had Moneypenny, Lumberjack had one, leaving the Admiral and Whytee yet to open their accounts with half the morning gone.

 Reloaded, and returning to that wide where the trout had been showing, Whytee changed spots three times until a Rainbow took the dry daddy virtually as it landed. This was followed by missing a rise which happened unexpectedly. Moneypenny arrived opposite, hooking a fish which came unstuck mid-scrap, and moved on after half an hour or so. Whytee moved over to that bank as two or three fish were still evident near the overhanging tree, and managed to hook one to the same daddy, but it won its freedom after a couple of hair-raising runs. Further around the fishery, the Admiral got one on a dry daddy which had pulled sub-surface on the retrieve. The Professor strolled round, gear left back at the hut, telling the story he’d finished. His first two took a nymph pattern with a blue ‘hot-spot’, the others falling to the charms of a chartreuse marabou streamer. He told me Foggy had also bagged up, and all of their takes had been in the first ten or so inches of depth.

 We lunched in the sunshine between clouds, all very impressed by this fishery. Whytee took some of the time to set up a sliding indicator to fish a Balanced Damsel beneath, even missing a take on a trial cast near the hut … but that’s what happens whenever there is an audience! Four Fluff Boys sallied forth again, Whytee returning to where he had unfinished business, t’others to try new spots. Nothing came to the balanced Damsel, nor to a balanced gold-bead buzzer, but a #14 nymph with a little, orange mylar wing-case brought a second ‘bow, the same size and as handsome as the first, both around two-and-a-half. Time for different swims.

 It hadn’t taken long for Moneypenny to finish his limit, and he joined the Professor and Foggy at the hut. Whytee caught his remaining brace of trout underneath the trees about 60m along the LHB from the hut, both to the little nymph under the bung. The Admiral moved to the far end, where Foggy had earlier based himself, and caught his remaining three in fairly short order, to a sunken daddy, while Foggy ‘spotted’ the fish in the shade for him. Once vacated, the Lumberjack moved into this ‘hot-spot’, which the audience had quickly christened “duffers’ corner”, was given one of Foggy’s flies, and under Foggy’s tutelage soon completed his limit too. Job done. Great session, great ‘new’ fishery! If interested, just look up Pittleworth Trout Lake on t’interweb, although frankly, the web site doesn’t really do it justice.

 Ruo oge ozo.

 

*in which the names of the participants are pseudonyms in an effort to be as inclusive to others as possible, an attempt to attain the widest readership. I will be grateful for any comment the reader cares to make. Thank you